I've heard the worse you treat them the better they do....unfortunately mine must be too prissy for that, because over the last months i've transplanted them, snipped & cut them, put them deeper in the ground, taken rootings and so far everything just flops...even the rootings taken from straight-ish stems have decided to corkscrew..LOL. I do love the idea of the tomato cage..think I might try that next year with some smaller plants and see what they come out like.. so odd how some people have theirs standing upright and others have floppy-no-mater-what plants.....seems like there's no real rhyme or reason to it. =P

So, the next and most important question: Let's say I replace my Autumn Joy by buying a full price plant at a reputable local nursery (that's saying a lot for a frugal WS and swapper!). When I buy the plant it is blooming in a brilliant and delightful shade. Can that brilliant and delightful shade be a product of special nursery conditions, i.e. high amounts of a particular fertilizer, etc.? Can I depend on that color in my garden being close enough to what I saw in the nursery? Let me note that this morning I went out to look at one of my hardy mums blooming. Last year it was purchased and was a fairly common color up here, can't remember the name. It had petals that were pink on the edges and became lighter, to almost a white, as the petals moved inward to the center, which I believe was yellow. Now it still has the yellow center and the petals are a deep burgany. No, nothing reseeded. I have not had any burgandy mums as I don't like burgandy. This was also my first year to really notice spring as a gardener. I checked that bed everyday, watching as each of the plants broke ground. This plant did now show up from seed with the starter leaves, followed by true leaves. I emerged from its roots in the ground with the thicker stalks you see in a returning perennial. This mum reverted on its own to one of its parents. I have seen posters post this before, and many people have responded by saying it had to have been a seed and the poster just didn't know it. I know it with this one. It is the same plant. So, even though I don't think Autumn Joy will revert to anything different, I know it is possible for the plant to behave differently once in the garden. I appreciate all your thoughts and input!

Mary, First I would say relax you really can't do any harm to these guys. I have divided them by simply taking my shovel and cutting them in half right in place not disturbing the one half. I have also dug the entire clump up and cut the plant in half with a saw, replanting one half. I have also dug up and potted pieces of plant material for a swap forgot them under a shrub and re-discovered them three years later still happily growing and ready for this years swap. If your clumps are very large make certain your shovel has a sharp edge as it will be difficult to cut through. What other plants are you growing with your sedum?

That one's not from my garden, it's from HCG. They are pretty pricey, but they have a great reputation. I've had mixed results with overwintering sunset hyssops, but had a few survivors for several years that I lost during that awful winter - was it 2 years ago? They really demand good drainage, so I plant them on a small hill. I buy at least one every year, different varieties, looking for one that will overwinter again. Bluestone has a couple of different ones, much less expensive than HCG.